Pokemon Conquest seems innocent enough. A tactical, Pokemon game that just happens to be kind of samurai themed. It's a stretch -- but at a glance it doesn't seem that odd. In Japan that game is known as Pokemon: Nobunaga's Ambition. Because, uh, it just happens to be about real, historic military strategist and warlord Oda Nobunaga partnering with a legendary Pokemon to control the territories of Japan.

The game douses the whole thing in a heavy dose of fantasy (there are Pokemon handling all the combat) and masks Japan with the fictional territory of Ransei. But need I repeat, a bunch of real Japanese warlords enlist Pokemon for tactical battles.

(And yes, I'm aware Nobunaga's Ambition is actually a long running series from Koei, usually featuring more history and less Pokemon).

As surprising as it is that this game got a global release, I can't really complain. It's actually a lot of fun, and the Pokemon sugar-coating sneakily introduced a solid tactical game to a lot of people who may never have played Nobunaga's Ambition.

Oh, and the meeting that ended in this game was originally pitched as 'Pokemon Musou'. Yeah, that's right, we almost got Pokemon Dynasty Warriors.